Voter ID: Ramsey County elections manager criticized over appearances

For months, Ramsey County Elections Manager Joe Mansky has been predicting the costs and complications of the state voter ID amendment if it passes in November.

Mansky has made public appearances at civic events and spoken at a state House news conference, where he has cautioned voters that Ramsey County will pay a heavy price to correct a problem that he says does not exist: widespread voter fraud.

Now, some St. Paul Republicans are sending him a message of their own: Please be quiet and resign.

In a statement Thursday, Sept. 13, Greg Copeland, chairman of the St. Paul Republican City Committee, called for Mansky, a former top state elections manager, to step down from the position he's held for a decade. Copeland emailed his concerns about possible "ethics violations" to members of the Ramsey County Board and dozens of GOP activists.

"He's compromised his standing as a professional and as an elections manager with regard to taking a position on this issue of voter ID," Copeland said Friday.

He noted that the county's written Code of Ethics calls for employees to "avoid any interest or activity which is in conflict with or inconsistent with the performance of official duties."

In an email, the Rev. Christopher Jack Conner, another St. Paul Republican, said "that any elections official would use their powerful political connections and long-standing reputation to campaign for or against any issue ...

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on a ballot is a greater threat to the integrity of our electoral process than any question that could be put to the voters."

Mansky was scheduled to talk about the voter ID proposal at an anti-amendment event Thursday at New Salem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. He chose not to after Copeland's widely circulated statement. The event was organized by His Works United, a collaboration of black churches throughout the metro, and promoted by Minnesotans for a Fair Economy.

In an email to the county board Thursday, deputy county manager Heather Worthington said Mansky had originally agreed to attend the event under the impression that it was a community meeting. It later "morphed" into a "vote no" rally, she said, and his role in it "was mischaracterized by both organizers and opponents."

"He agreed to attend the meeting to provide factual information, but not to take a position for or against the amendment, because the county board has not taken a formal position on this ballot measure," Worthington wrote.

She said that she has asked Mansky to refrain from speaking at future public events related to the amendment to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Alfred Babington-Johnson, president of the Stairstep Foundation, a leading organizer of Thursday's event in Minneapolis, called the complaints against Mansky "foolishness" and his absence a loss for voters on both sides of the issue.

"What is partisan? That's an outrageous kind of statement around this, to call someone who would share about the process partisan," Babington-Johnson said.

"This is not an election of an officeholder," he continued. "This is on the issue of voting, and whether or not the process of voting ought to be inclusive or restrictive. That's not partisan. What is the party that he's against? Who then can speak to the process, if the folks in charge of the process are denied an opportunity to speak to the community?"

Rafael Ortega, Ramsey County Board chairman, said Mansky has been a go-to resource for secretaries of state from both leading political parties.

Mansky was an elections administrator for the secretary of state from 1984 to 1999, and was redistricting manager under Gov. Jesse Ventura from 2001 to 2002.

"He is probably the expert in the state on elections," Ortega said. "That's his job, to provide public education on the matter."

The amendment, which will appear on the ballot in the November election, would require voters to show valid photo identification at the polls as of July 1, 2013. Even the phrasing and title of the amendment have been the subject of scrutiny, inspiring lawsuits that have risen to the state's highest court.

The suits have also put a tough spotlight on Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who has shown no enthusiasm for the amendment and was unsuccessful in getting its title changed. GOP lawmakers have accused him of overstepping his bound and campaigning against it.

The city of St. Paul has come out against the amendment, and members of the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners have been equally critical, but the board has not passed a resolution taking an official position.

On Aug. 20, Mansky appeared alongside St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak at a state House news conference calling the voter ID amendment an unfunded state mandate that will be both costly and unnecessary.

"There's no question that those folks are as partisan as it gets in Minnesota. They both ran for the DFL nomination for governor," Copeland said. "Joe Mansky is not supposed to be a politician."

In June, Mansky told the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners that if voters approve the amendment, the county would have to spend up to $1.7 million to install polling place computers and educate voters about the photo ID requirements. He said cities would pay an additional $200,000 for elections judges, ballot boxes and training, and noted those costs might have to be repeated every election cycle.